


Protectiveness

by Lunatasha



Category: Bleach
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:34:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25074688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunatasha/pseuds/Lunatasha
Summary: She doesn't know why it was the little things that made her realise it. The difference between Uryu and Ichigo when it came to protecting.Written for day 5 of IshiHime Week 2020.
Relationships: Inoue Orihime/Ishida Uryuu
Comments: 2
Kudos: 27
Collections: IshiHime Week 2020





	Protectiveness

She doesn't know why it was the little things that made her realise it. The difference between Uryu and Ichigo when it came to protecting. Really the moment in Las Noches should've done it, when Ichigo told Uryu to shield her with his body if he had to. But there was too much going on, too much had already happened, everything had been _too much_. She didn't really have the capacity at the time to process the exchange. How Ichigo had stared at Uryu, commanding him to protect her, and how Uryu had stared back, not determined, like Ichigo had been, but angry. It wouldn't have been obvious unless you knew him, but looking back on it, Uryu had been angry. The way his eyes narrowed slightly, how his jaw had subtly clenched, his tone of voice. How he said that he would've done that without Ichigo telling him, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. That moment really should've made the difference obvious, but instead it was the little things that did it. Namely because Ichigo didn't do little things.

  
When she had forgotten to bring her umbrella to school one day, when it was absolutely tipping it down with rain, Ichigo had an awkward smile on his face, explaining that he didn't bring one either, that it looked like they'd both just have to run home. Whereas Uryu, after hearing the exchange (and watching Ichigo leave, Orihime still at the school entrance) had simply pulled out his own umbrella out of his bag and asked if she'd like him to walk her home. When Orihime had accidentally burned herself on a still hot oven tray Ichigo had somewhat aggressively pulled her over to the sink, admonishing her, saying that she needed to be more careful, that when it comes to things like that she should err on the side of caution, stay well clear unless she knew it wasn't hot any more. At the time she was a blushing mess, thankful that he was so worried about her, flattered at his concern. Looking back, with a couple more years of maturity, she wondered why he had made it such a big deal. Everyone accidentally burns themselves occasionally, when you cook for yourself everyday there's going to be the occasional slip up. The burn wasn't even bad, she had to assure Ichigo three times that it wasn't that bad before he stopped holding her finger under the cold tap already. It had healed within a day or two. She had been through much worse, she wasn't going to break because of a small, thin line of temporary pain.

  
She had done the same thing in front of Uryu once, had accidentally brushed the back of her hand against a saucepan heating on the hob when she was reaching for an ingredient. His head had snapped towards her when he heard her hiss in pain, he quickly assessed that it wasn't anything too serious, and had just asked her if she was alright. Let her go to the cold tap on her own, diligently watching her, relieved when she pulled away from the water saying it had calmed down, nothing more. Where Ichigo was all or nothing, unintentional apathy or grandiose actions and statements, Uryu was calm and sensible, offering help instead of assuming whether she needed it or not. Protecting her only when she gave her permission to do so, unless it was a genuinely serious situation where he would act on pure instinct, pure need to protect her, without the need for big words and promises.

  
She preferred Uryu's approach these days. Ichigo's larger than life words and behaviour had thoroughly impressed her when she was younger, he was like a fairytale hero come to life, something to behold, to revere. Still was really, with everything he had been able to achieve. And she was glad for him, truly, happy that he's been able to do so much, amazed to see him become the larger than life figure he seemed destined to become. But she didn't want a fairytale hero any more. What she wanted was a partner, someone she saw eye to eye with, someone who would support her from behind as she went her way and faced her own challenges, rather than someone who would try to shield her from anything that could potentially hurt her. What she wanted was the kind of protection Uryu has been offering her the entire time. Not so overbearing as to try and protect her from every little thing, but not so unfeeling as to not offer help for the little things when it made sense to. He wasn't about to try and fix her problems, such as last week when a child in her class was suddenly misbehaving and she wasn't sure why, Uryu had listened to her, understood her frustration, but didn't try to offer solutions. After all, it was her job, her student, and she had more expertise in the area than he did, it wasn't something he could reasonably help with. But when her car had broken down, he had offered to drive her into work the next day, as long as she didn't mind being half an hour early so he could get to work on time as well. It was a fine balance, protecting her from the little things going wrong in life without going overboard but Uryu had it down to an exact science, perfectly matching with what she wanted.

  
She hated that it had taken her so long to realise that, although knowing had it's disadvantages too. Her heart would beat a little faster every time he did something as simple as hold an umbrella over her head. She would blush whenever he offered to take a bag from her. Every little action reminded her that Uryu was what she wanted. Orihime paced up and down outside the entrance of the hospital, nervous for Uryu to come out after his shift. It may have taken her years to come to the realisation, but she was determined to let him know how she felt tonight. She just hoped that she wasn't too late for him.

  
(She wasn't.)


End file.
